


Don't Leave Me Alone ‹ 0 ›

by cinnamxn



Series: 'Return' Series [1]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Gen, Missing Persons, Running Away
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 05:31:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11662608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinnamxn/pseuds/cinnamxn
Summary: Prologue to 'Return' series. Not necessary to read.Grunkle Ford asked Dipper to come sail the world with him and Stanley. It was an offer Dipper was sure he'd been waiting his whole life for.





	Don't Leave Me Alone ‹ 0 ›

**PIEDMONT, CALIFORNIA  
DECEMBER 18, 2021**

 

A note, a post card, sits on a wooden desk in a lonely apartment, right next to a pile of old textbooks. Sunlight filters through the window, illuminating the small card. Printed on the front-side is the expression of an oil-painted sea, the waves rippling against sandy beaches and ragged cliffs. If she misses him and decides to check on him, he will already be gone. The front of the card, of course, is the first thing she will see should she look for him. He wonders if she will notice him missing within the three months he is gone: will she bother to make a house call?

Almost certainly not, he tells himself.

He pays his landlady in advance for those three months, knowing that once they are over, he will need to return. He closes the door behind him and locks it, taking the key. He already knows that his sister has a spare. He adjusts the bag on his back, and leaves.

Oddly, he wishes he will not need to come back, but he knows that he will miss her too much.

He loves her, even though they grew apart. While he is gone, she will remain at the back of his mind no matter how much he distracts himself. On the other side of the card, facing the smooth wood of his desk, are scrawled the regrets he would otherwise try to forget.

 

> **Dear Mabel,**
> 
> **Sorry for leaving without a warning, I just  
> ** **didn't know how to explain myself. Don't  
> ** **worry about me, this isn't goodbye. NorÂ  
>  do I want this to be goodbye.**
> 
> **I'm out at sea with Grunkle Stan and Grunkle  
>  ** **Ford while you read this. We'll be returning  
>  ** **to Portland around March.**

 

 

 

**PORTLAND, CALIFORNIA  
DECEMBER 18, 2021**

Portland is not far from home, Dipper gets there in no time. He takes little with him: a duffel and a backpack carry more than necessary. His victory urges a grin as he looks upon the calm ocean, the wind pushes his hair away to expose the constellation on his forehead, the lines dull, leaving only the individual stars visible. Somehow, his hat defies physics, remaining planted firmly on his head as if knowing it belongs. He considered abandoning it with the post card, but could not bring himself to part.

There is no turning back, and the uncertain future leaves Dipper feeling nervous in the most pleasurable of ways. In his excitement at receiving a posted letter from his great uncle Ford, inviting the young adult to join the twins in their global ventures, he had dropped out of college; a week later, he is still elated.

Abandoning college feels free. As does dropping ties to that cramped apartment. Somewhere, Mabel anchors him, but mostly, he is ready to soar along the seven seas.

He finds a place to sit, and he waits.

 

 

**PORTLAND, CALIFORNIA  
DECEMBER 25, 2021**

Dipper settled on a small bed and breakfast building by the sea, where he could keep a constant watch on the ocean. The call from Mabel came as usual, but he ignored it. Their great uncles must have run into a storm and been thrown off course, but Dipper was sure that they would arrive soon enough.

His mum and dad called him as he left his rented room, and he bought himself a book; sick of his worries and the daytime TV. It was from an ancient-looking book exchange, and the book itself was just as ancient, with the pages tearing off its spine: it is about some girl investigating her mother's death, only to find out that she caused it.

He reads the whole book in one day, until the sun sets between the masts of two yachts. Watching the glowing yellow sunset shape itself between the boats, a ghost of an idea begins to form, and Dipper pushes it away as soon as it arises. On his way home, Dipper is able to sell the book at the same book exchange, and the woman who works there tells him to try a library instead.

 

 

**PORTLAND, CALIFORNIA  
JANUARY 1, 2022**

From a hotel by the docks, Dipper watches the empty water stir. His eyes are tired, rimmed with shadows, and he leans his cheek against a single palm. The floor above him creaks as tourists party, and something in his pocket buzzes. Once. Twice.

Three times.

He reaches in and withdraws a brick of a phone, holding it to his ear. Naturally, he glimpses the clock; four minutes past midnight, almost a week from when his uncles were meant to arrive.

"Hey bro!" she screams into the phone. He winces, but quickly realises she does not mean to startle him, but the background is filled with so much noise she needs to shout to be heard. For a moment, an uneasy smile rests on Dipper's face. "Happy new year!"

"Happy new year, Mabel," he mumbles back, eyes still trained on the water. For days he had waited, his mind simmering in unwelcome potentials.

Immediately she catches his mood. He knows without her saying it, because she is Mabel Pines and of course she knows. They were best friends, partners in crime and heroes of the universe. Then he hears it; that worried edge in her voice as she drawls out his name.

He holds back tears and clears out his throat. "Mabel, can I stay with you for a few days?" He hates to ask, but has no clue what else to do. Their parents are somewhat absent in their lives, and would never understand what the twins went through in Gravity Falls so many years ago.

In a weak attempt to lighten the mood, he mentions that spending some time together would be a great start to the new yea. Mabel takes the bait, only because she knows it is what he needs.

 

 

 

**SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA  
JANUARY 1, 2022**

The clock strikes seven in the evening and Mabel decides that the apartment is finally clean enough to welcome her brother. Right on time, since only a minute later thereÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s a knock on the door.

In he lumbers like the walking dead, and Mabel is unsure whether to be amused or concerned. "You look terrible, Dip," she remarks, holding the door wide.

Mabel's apartment is done up like the 70's burst through a time portal and the shrapnel became Mabel's permanent roommate. While the walls are white and the floor polished oak, a fluorescent blue rug becomes the first disruption, topped with the fat pink pet that is most certainly breaking several rules. Bead curtains separate Mabel's room from the main living space, and it's magnet-covered fridge and bulbous orange lamps. Dipper immediately finds a place in a bright yellow beanbag, sinking into its embrace. His eyes travel to a lava lamp on the coffee table. It offers no real lighting, and is dull against the harsh whites of Mabel's standing lamps, but it persists in its duty. Lava floats to the top of the lamp and bounces back down, and the colours never stop changing.

Blue... purple... pink... red...

Eyes narrow at the spectacle, because something about it is so, utterly and completely Mabel Pines that he can hardly belive he's there. Mabel can tell Dipper is upset, and tired, but she also needs him to talk.

"So what did you do?" she asks, immediately to be cautioned by a glare from her brother. "You're my guest, and I'll let you stay, but first I need to know if you're going to bring any trouble home, bro. No gangs following you?"

Dipper groans, covering his face. "I'm not bringing anything Mabel. Seriously-" A laugh - "You think I'm mixed up with some sort of _gang_?"

"Well you went from Piedmont to Portland without any sort of goodbye to me, so you must be in huge trouble."

Somehow, Dipper felt guilty that he was not in the perilous danger Mabel assumed. Mostly, because she suddenly seemed to think so highly of him.

A long silence passed, leaving Mabel in awkward laughter to pass the time.

Finally, Dipper's hands dropped from his face and he met her eyes. He seemed about to cry, but stubbornly held it back. "Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford- have... They're missing, Mabel. They were meant to dock weeks ago, but they haven't."

 

 

**GRAVITY FALLS, OREGON  
AUGUST 8, 2022**

He locked Mabel out; she was still pounding on the door, begging to be let back in.

A deep breath.

"Are you going to help me or not?" Dipper asked.

"The important question, _kid_ , is how you'll convince me to save your uncles."

"I'm offering to bring you back to life. Isn't that more than you deserve?"

The room echoed with shrill laughter. "Wow! I'm sensing some _real_ negativity from you. Since I admire your effort so much, I guess it'll do. Yeah... _for now_ , it'll do **_just fine_**."

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This definitely isn't my best work. But getting it finished and posted really helped motivate me for the real series.


End file.
